Cuvée Van De Keizer Rood

I haven't had anything else from Het Anker but I'm going to keep my eyes open for more after this one. The name translates to "Cuvée of the Emperor - Red". According to the fine scholarly article at Wikipedia Cuvée is a French wine term used that denotes particularly good casks or blends. After drinking a bottle, I would have to full-heartedly agree. The bottle that I found was from 2008 so it has aged a little. This particular blend is only brewed on February 24th so early March seemed like a good time to give it a try.

This pours like a good Belgian blonde - lively with a nice rich foamy head. The belgian yeasts have worked their usual charms here. The first glass immediate reminded me of a Duvel in both appearance and aroma. The aroma has a little more alcohol warmth though. The taste is something different. You could mistake the taste for something closer to a tripel. It is richer and thicker than it appears - slightly sticky, a little sweet, and spicy. The finish took me a while to identify. The finish isn't as dry as I expected and there is this strange warmth. By the end of the glass I recognized something that I hadn't tasted in years - whisky! There is definitely a hint of something that tastes a lot like a good whisky in the finish. This is one of the more enjoyable beers that I have had recently.

Ratebeer gives this one a 9689. I can agree with this. If you compare this to other Belgian Strong Ales, it breaks more than a few style rules.

Beeradvocate rates it a B+ which I feel is under-rated at best but that is what the beer drinking public has it pegged at ... at least 85 of them seem to agree.